Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books Newsletter – Vol. 2

Help us continue to grow our literary community! Donate  ROSS GAY The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is pleased to announce poet and essayist Ross Gay at the 2023 Festival! Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His first collection of essays, The Book of Delights, was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller. His new collection of essays, Inciting Joy, was released in October of 2022. In Inciting Joy, Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life's inevitable hardships.  OUR 2023 AUTHORS Check out some of the authors you'll hear from at this year's Festival! Stay tuned for more authors to be announce in the coming weeks.  Emily Tamkin Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities Writer and former US Editor of the New Statesman Emily Tamkin will be featured at this year's festival with her book Bad Jews. In Bad Jews, Tamkin examines the last 100 years of American Jewish politics, culture, identities and arguments. Drawing on over 250 interviews, she tracts the evolution of Jewishness throughout American history.   Laura Warrell Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm In her debut novel, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, Laura Warrell writes about the perennial temptations of dangerous love, following a jazz musician and an ensemble cast of women--some charmed by him, others scorned--who discover the power of their own voices.   Rinker Buck Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure In Life on the Mississippi, New York Times Bestselling author Rinker Buck tells a story with an enchanting blend of history and adventure in which Buck builds a wooden flatboat from the grand “flatboat era” of the 1800s and sails it from Pittsburgh down to the Mississippi River, illuminating the forgotten past of America’s first western frontier.   Leon Ford An Unspeakable Hope: Brutality, Forgiveness, and Building a Better Future for My Son In 2012, Pittsburgh native and activist Leon Ford was shot by a Pittsburgh police officer five times as he was racially profiled during a case of mistaken identity. In An Unspeakable Hope, Ford reveals how he faced becoming paralyzed as a new father after the incident and discovered the power of forgiveness and letting go of his hatred.    Joseph Sassoon The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire In The Sassoons, Joseph Sassoon tells the riveting untold story of the gilded Jewish Bagdadi Sassoons, who built a vast empire through global finance and trade--cotton, opium, shipping, banking--that reached across three continents and ultimately changed the destinies of nations.    MEET OUR 2023 POETS Check out some of our featured poets for this year’s festival. You may recognize some familiar faces! Patricia Jabbeh Wesley National award-winner Patricia Jabbeh Wesley is the author of five previous collections of poetry, including When the Wanderers Come Home, Where the Road Turns, The River Is Rising, Becoming Ebony, and Before the Palm Could Bloom: Poems of Africa. Her new collection is Praise Song for My Children. She teaches creative writing and African literature at Penn State Altoona.   Lynn Emanuel Lynn Emanuel is the author of five previous books of poetry, most recently, The Nerve Of It: Poems New and Selected which was awarded the Lenore Marshall Award by the Academy of American Poets. Her poetry has been published and reviewed in, Poetry, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, LA Review of Books, BOMB Magazine, Best American Poetry, and Publisher’s Weekly.  She has been a judge for the National Book Awards and has taught at the Bread Loaf Conference, the Warren Wilson Program and many other venues. Her new book, Transcript of the Disappearance—Exact and Diminishing, will appear in fall of 2023.   Michael Simms Michael Simms, who identifies as a person with autism, is the editor of Vox Populi, an online forum for poetry, politics and nature, as well as the founder of book publisher Autumn House Press. He’s the author of four full-length collections of poetry including American Ash and Nightjar, and two novels: Bicycles of the Gods and The Green Mage.   Deborah Bogen Deborah Bogen’s volumes of poetry include her new book, Speak Now This Charm, In Case of Sudden Free Fall, Landscape with Silos, Let Me Open You a Swan and Living by the Children’s Cemetery. She lives in Pittsburgh where she tries to balance the poet’s life with grassroots political responsibility, playing music with family and friends, and growing a few things in the garden.   Charlie Brice Charlie Brice began writing poetry about 20 years ago and has since released six full-length poetry collections, including his most recent collection, Pinnacles of Hope, published by Impspired Books. His seventh collection will be coming out around the time of this year’s festival. Brice feels lucky to be a part of the thriving and supportive community of poets in Pittsburgh.   Judith Brice Judith Alexander Brice has had over 80 poems published in journals and anthologies, including The Golden Streetcar, Voxpopulisphere.com, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and more. Brice has received multiple awards in The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize and has authored four poetry books: Renditions in a Palette, Overhead From Longing, Imbibe the Air, as well as the chapbook, Shards of Shadows: A Covid Diary.   Jan Beatty Jan Beatty’s seventh book, American Bastard, won the Red Hen Nonfiction Award, 2021. Her last book, The Body Wars, received praise by Naomi Shihab Nye in the New York Times. For fifteen years, Beatty directed creative writing at Carlow University where she ran the Madwomen in the Attic and the MFA programs. Her new chapbook, Skydog, was just released.   Ellen McGrath Smith Ellen McGrath Smith teaches at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Carlow University Madwomen in the Attic program. Her poetry has appeared in The Georgia Review, The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, Talking Writing, Los Angeles Review, and other journals; and in anthologies, including Beauty Is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability and Choice Words: Writers on Abortion. Her books include Scatter, Feed and Nobody's Jackknife; her chapbook Lie Low, Goaded Lamb was published in January 2023 as part of its Keystone Series.   Lori Jakiela Lori Jakiela is the author of seven books, including most recently the poetry collection How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen? Poems at Midlife, which received the Wicked Woman Prize from Brickhouse Books. Her latest book, a hybrid memoir entitled They Write Your Name on a Grain of Rice: On Cancer, Love, and Living Even So, is forthcoming this Spring. Jakiela is the recipient of multiple Golden Quill awards. She currently directs the undergraduate Creative & Professional Writing program at The University of Pittsburgh's Greensburg campus, where she is a professor of English and Creative Writing. She also teaches in the doctoral program in Ministry/Creative Writing at The Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.   Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter to see the other poets we have lined up for this year’s festival!   A SNEAK PEEK AT THIS YEAR’S PROGRAMMING AND EXHIBITORS Heinz History Center We’re thrilled to have the Heinz History Center as part of our programming. At this year’s festival, you’ll hear from Director of Publications Brian Butko on the history of Kennywood as well as Curator Emily Ruby as she discusses the history of the Heinz Family. The Heinz History Center is also an exhibitor at this year’s Festival, featuring products and books for sale and interactive activities. University of Pittsburgh Library System Serving students, researchers and more in our area and beyond, we look forward to having the University of Pittsburgh Library System as a sponsor and exhibitor for this year’s Festival. Hosting first-class collections of over seven million print and electronic books, journals, databases, archival materials and special collections, the University of Pittsburgh Library System is committed to preserving the past and present work of our communities as a node in a vast network of global knowledge. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: OUR 2023 VENUE Have you heard the news? The 2023 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books will be held on the campus of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary this May! Keeping the Festival in its home of East Liberty, this new venue allows for a single campus environment with increased indoor and outdoor space that will make for an improved experience for all in attendance. Stay tuned for more information on our expanded plans for more programming, authors, poets, exhibitors and literary fun for all!   HOT OFF THE PRESS! OUR 2023 PUBLISHERS. Without publishers, authors’ ideas could never come to life! Thank you to our 2023 Publishers who continue to make our literary dreams come true. Parsec Ink. CHECK OUT OUR 2023 SPONSORS! The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is only made possible with the help of our supporters. Thank you to our 2023 sponsors for your generous contributions! Lamar Pittsburgh Regional Transit Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the 2023 Festival. We remain committed to enhancing education and literacy in our communities and invite you to participate in our mission as a sponsor. Learn more about our Sponsorship Oppounities here! REGISTRATION DETAILS COMING SOON Keep an eye out for official details on when registration will open for the 2023 Festival! Registration is free and allows you to have a secured seat at your favorite authors’ programming. SAVE THE DATE GREATER PITTSBURGH FESTIVAL OF BOOKS: MAY 13 Campus of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Donate  Sponsor Volunteer  Partner